Episode 37: The howitzer and the ninja
"To the person reading this: What are you like now? Did you become who you wanted to be? For starters, what was the person you wanted to become even like? I don't know, but it would be wonderful if you can boast that you're living each day to the fullest. To future Sycamore. From the Sycamore dreaming of the future."
Niko turned to look at his friends. They were standing at the run-down train station in Couriway Town on their pass through to Snowbelle City. While there, they had apparently found a message Professor Sycamore had written to himself long ago. It begged the question—who was Professor Sycamore?
Couriway Town was a small town in eastern Kalos. A railway supposedly connected the town with other cities in the region, such as Lumiose City, but if the rusted nature of it suggested anything, it was that the rail was hardly used anymore, possibly due to a lack of attention to it in favor of other modes of transportation. Waterfalls decorated the town's edges, with rivers high up in the mountains leading to the set of shimmering falls that subsequently led into more rivers and lakes.
On their first day, Niko and his friends sat by one of them, resting on a wooden platform while they watched Pokémon swim around carelessly. In the midst of everything—battling, romance, and mysteries—it provided a necessary calm to Niko's life. It brought him back down to earth, reminding him of what lay ahead of him.
You will face a great challenge in the near future that will set you on a path few trainers have taken. You will be tested like no other trainer has before, bar one. Lastly, you will find meaning in the smaller, simpler things in life.
What did Olympia mean by this? What path have few trainers taken, and what test has only one trainer ever faced? Those two statements were, without a doubt, related. But how? Why? Was it related to his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master? Would he face it at the Kalos League? Was his "great challenge" a trainer, or a Pokémon, or something completely unrelated?
Niko ignored these thoughts for a moment when he turned to look at Charlotte, again noticing her hazel brown eyes and straight, but short hair. He still couldn't understand how exactly he felt about her. It was likely due to his inability to rationalize his feelings, as he was wont to do with most other people. He liked Warren's friendship because of their close bond during his lowest point. He appreciated Brittany for her emotional intellect and ability to empathize with others, even those she had difficulty liking. He liked Fay for his mental intellect and being one of his few friends growing up. Lastly, he liked Jake for familial reasons, as well as his mental intellect.
But where did Charlotte fall? What was it about her that Niko appreciated? Why did he even have confused feelings in the first place? It implied that he, firstly, had any feelings at all for her, but also that he struggled with expressing them. He had always seen her as a friend, at least while they were in Unova, and he appreciated her emotional stability when it came to helping him out with problems that he faced—admitting his personal failings, getting through tough battles, etc. He liked that she cared for her Pokémon, as well as others around her. He liked her willingness to try new things, even if she initially refused to or thought pointless. She was open-minded, for the most part.
Niko may have answered his own question.
"Hey, you two want to go train?" Niko asked finally, standing up. "On our current path, we're about a week or two away from the eighth gym! Charlotte and I have to get ready."
"Agreed," Charlotte said, also standing up. "I think there's a battlefield down the street. It isn't a Pokémon Center one, but it'll do I think."
Niko nodded. "Then let's get rolling."
"Alright everyone, come on out!" Niko shouted, summoning his four Pokémon. "We're about to fight the final gym leader in Kalos—in Snowbelle City. We need to be in tip-top shape, alright? So let's get moving!"
Niko's Pokémon all continued working on their own individual moves, occasionally battling with Warren's Pokémon to test them out if they mastered them. Quilladin managed to successfully use seed bomb, impressing Charlotte's Gogoat in their practice battle. Fletchinder managed to get steel wing down, as expected, and Slurpuff successfully used cotton guard to defend from the super effective move.
It was only Clauncher that had any difficulties. He was trying to master dark pulse and continuously failed, much to his own disappointment. Despite encouragement from Niko, Clauncher wasn't able to use the attack, eventually slamming a crabhammer into the ground and scuttling away out of frustration.
"Oh, Clauncher!" Niko shouted, "Come back here!" The Water Gun Pokémon refused to listen, instead sitting on the bench and watching the others train. "You'll never get better if you don't work at this!"
"I've had that problem before," a voice said from behind them. Standing in the entrance of the battlefield, up a half-flight of stairs, was Oliver. The man with a black afro stared down at the three of them with their Pokémon in his black hoodie and jeans. "Hey, Niko, Charlotte. How're you both doing?"
"Fine. What're you in town for?" Niko inquired as his rival walked down the steps towards the battlefield.
"I'm on my way to Anistar City. Off to challenge the gym leader there. You?"
"Ah, the opposite direction. Snowbelle City. We just won the Psychic Badge," Niko said, eying his Clauncher, who helped win the battle for him.
"Snowbelle, eh? That was a tough gym. Fortunately I had Pokémon that could take on Wulfric," Oliver said. These words struck Niko like a punch to the face.
"Wulfric is the Snowbelle Gym Leader?" Niko asked in apparent surprise.
"Yep, why? Does that mean something to you?"
"Y-yeah. I met him in Dendemille Town. He's caring for my Aurorus right now."
"Ah. Why?" Oliver asked. Niko then recited the reasons behind him temporarily parting ways with the Tundra Pokémon. The entire time, Oliver listened intently, eventually responding calmly. "Sounds like you made the right choice, Niko. Good on you."
"Thanks, Oliver," Niko then looked at his Pokémon, and back at his rival. "Say…wanna have a battle?"
"Sure, why not?" Oliver said aloofly, shrugging his shoulders. "I've got nowhere to be at the moment, and I'm sure my Pokémon would like to battle yours. It's been a while, after all."
"It really has. How many do you want to use?" Niko asked as they parted ways towards the opposite ends of the battlefield. Charlotte, Warren, and their Pokémon cleared the way for the two rivals. Niko's Pokémon all took their spots next to their trainer, uncharacteristically out of their Pokéballs.
"Three. Let's do three," Oliver said, a pokéball sitting in his hand. "I'll go first—Honedge, I choose you!"
Out of Oliver's first pokéball came a Pokémon resembling a sword. Its sheath was dark brown with curved lines across the surface. At the top of the sheath—the hilt of the sword—an eye was engraved on it. Attached to the pommel of the sword was a long, dark blue cloth with a swirling design at its four-split end.
"Honedge, the Sword Pokémon. Steel and ghost type. Apparently, this Pokémon is born when a departed spirit inhabits a sword. It attaches itself to people and drinks their life force," Charlotte's pokédex read.
"Fletchinder, you're up!" Niko shouted. "Let's start off with flame charge!"
"Honedge, iron defense!" Oliver commanded. The Sword Pokémon started to glow bright gray, and when Fletchinder crashed into it, the sword barely moved. "Now, aerial ace!"
"Flame charge again!" Niko commanded. Fletchinder's body lit up on fire, but the attack missed when Honedge spun backwards, unsheathing itself, and slamming the blunt end of the silver-drawn sword onto Fletchinder's back, forcing the Ember Pokémon to crash into the ground.
"Night slash!" Oliver commanded again. Honedge's blade burst into a purple color as it attempted to strike the fallen Fletchinder, who used flame charge to burst forward, causing the night slash to miss. Fletchinder got back into the air, the flame charge speeding him up, until he swooped back around and dove towards Honedge. "Aerial ace!"
"Keep going, Fletchinder! Flame charge!" Niko shouted. Fletchinder crashed into his opponent, who then spun around and slashed at Fletchinder with aerial ace, striking the bird with the sharp side of the blade this time. Fletchinder cried out as she crashed into the ground.
"Niko has the clear advantage…" Warren said, "but it doesn't seem to matter. Honedge is just as strong."
"Does honedge evolve?" Charlotte asked. Warren simply shook his head.
"Flame charge again!" Niko shouted. Fletchinder quickly got up and burst into flames once more, this time moving at a blinding speed, striking Honedge and launching it across the field and into the wall behind Oliver. The Sword Pokémon then peeled off of the wall and collapsed on the ground in defeat.
"Return, Honedge," Oliver said. "Greninja, I choose you!" he then shouted, summoning a large, bipedal frog-like Pokémon. Its body and legs were dark blue, with single large, white bubbles on its legs and arms and white spots over its eyes. On the sides of each of its upper thighs is a light blue, four-pointed star, which resembled a shuriken. Its back feet had two toes each, while its front feet had three. Its feet were webbed, and it had a yellow chest and yellow-and-blue face. Its eyes had white sclera, red irises, and white pupils. A large, projected dark blue stripe ran down the middle of its head, with projecting light blue stripes in between its large, yellow ears. Its mouth was hidden behind a large, pink tongue that wrapped around its neck and extended outwards behind its head.
"Greninja, the Ninja Pokémon. Water and dark type. It creates throwing stars out of compressed water. When it spins them and throws them at high speed, these stars can split metal in two," Charlotte's pokédex read.
"Greninja, water shuriken!" Oliver commanded.
"Fletchinder, dodge and use steel wing!" Niko shouted. Fortunately, Fletchinder was faster. However, Niko made the poor decision to strike Greninja up close. As Fletchinder struck at the Ninja Pokémon, the latter quickly struck at her with night slash, rocketing her high into the air and firing off a water shuriken at her in midair. By the time Fletchinder hit the ground, she was down and out. "Return, buddy. You did great…Quilladin," Niko said, turning to his grass type. "You ready?"
Quilladin nodded, stepping forward to take on the Greninja that he, presumably, recognized from Professor Sycamore's lab when he was a froakie. Niko commanded him to start off with seed bomb, to which Greninja dodged with smokescreen, eventually rising into the air with unmatched jumping skills and fired off a water shuriken from high above.
"Quick, block them with needle arm!" Niko commanded. Quilladin crossed his arms together, both glowing bright green, as he was hit by the throwing stars made of compressed water. However, despite the attack being less effective, it hit Quilladin with enough force to move him backwards and onto his knees.
"Night slash!" Oliver shouted, thrusting his arm to the side, as if he were attacking himself. Greninja conjured a long, purple blade that it used to strike at Quilladin. Greninja bounded across the field and smacked his opponent with the dark purple blade. Quilladin, for his part, managed to parry a few of the blows with needle arm, but eventually collapsed to the ground. Greninja bounced backwards, somersaulting along the way, and fired off a water shuriken on Oliver's command. As soon as it hit Quilladin, the Spiny Armor Pokémon was out of the battle.
"Quilladin, return," Niko said, returning his grass type. "That Greninja is surely something, Oliver."
"Yeah, it is. Your Quilladin is getting better at battling, too. It's certainly not the Chespin I battled against back in Camphrier Town."
"Definitely not," Niko then looked at his only two available Pokémon. Since Greninja was a dark type, Slurpuff certainly had the advantage. However, Clauncher needed the battling experience. He needed to feel strong again. "Clauncher, let's go."
The Water Gun Pokémon eyed Niko suspiciously before scuttling onto the field. He stared down Greninja, who crouched low to the ground in anticipation of an attack.
"Greninja, night slash!" Oliver commanded. The Ninja Pokémon created another dark purple blade with its right hand and charged at Clauncher.
"Water pulse!" Niko commanded. Clauncher's blue claw shimmered before firing off a pulsating orb of water at his fellow water type. Greninja slashed at it with night slash, prematurely causing it to burst. "Crabhammer!"
Clauncher's big claw started to glow white as he jumped high into the air to meet Greninja's night slash. The two attacks collided, neither Pokémon giving ground. Greninja then created a second night slash blade and poked Clauncher in the chest, sending him flying through the air.
"Clauncher!" Niko shouted when the Water Gun Pokémon crashed into the ground, struggling to get back on his feet. He looked angry, and Niko had several reasons why that might be the case. He never quite found out, instead focusing on trying to get around this powerful water type Pokémon. "Use water pulse!" Greninja blocked the attack, but was subsequently returned. "Huh?"
"I am allowed to substitute, right?" Oliver said. "With two water types, this battle will go nowhere. Pikachu, you're up!"
Oh, no…Niko thought to himself. We're screwed. "Clauncher, water pulse!"
"Pikachu, electro ball!" Oliver commanded. The electric mouse leapt into the air, firing off an orb of pure electricity at Clauncher, who responded with his own orb of elemental energy. The two attacks collided, bursting in the middle of the field. "Now, thunderbolt!"
"Clauncher, block it with water pulse again" Niko shouted. Once more, water reacted with electricity to create a vicious explosion, only this time it hit closer to Clauncher than Pikachu. The Water Gun Pokémon winced as he was thrown backwards from the force of the explosion, while Pikachu remained relatively unharmed. "You can keep going, buddy. I know you can," Niko said softly. "You've defeated a mega-evolved Pokémon, and won in a double battle. You can defeat a measly Pikachu, right?"
Clauncher looked up at Niko curiously.
"I've rarely seen a Pokémon with the kind of raw power that you have—and ask Charlotte and Warren, they know I've raised a lot of Pokémon. You're very strong, Clauncher. You just have to believe that you are, like you did when you defeated that Mega Lucario, or helped Aurorus defeat those meowstic. I certainly do. Always have, and always will."
Clauncher blinked at Niko, his wide, white eyes, normally emotionless, suddenly teared up slightly. Niko had rarely seen Clauncher show that amount of emotion, much less that emotion. He could barely hear the Water Gun Pokémon take a deep breath before glowing a bright white color, engulfing the field in his light of evolution.
Clauncher, to be sure, didn't grow much bigger upon evolution. But his already massive claw did, and it grew. The cyan-colored shrimp Pokémon had a single black stripe on each of his body segments. The legs that he had as a Clauncher had disappeared. He still had two claws, but one was clearly bigger than the other. The smaller claw was blue with a yellow tip and a black stripe, and was proportional to his body. The larger claw, on the other hand, was dark blue, with a pair of yellow antennae and three black stripes. Lastly, he had a black stripe across his face and yellow, semi-circular eyes.
"Clawitzer, the Howitzer Pokémon. Water type. By expelling water from the nozzle in the back of its claw, it can move at a speed of 60 knots," Niko's pokédex read.
Clawitzer, without taking orders from Niko, aimed his large claw directly at Pikachu and, with it shimmering a dark gray color, fired off a nexus of dark energy at the electric mouse, striking it in the chest and knocking it over.
"Dark pulse!" Niko shouted. "You learned it!" Clawitzer turned to Niko and smirked. "Alright then! Use crabhammer!"
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Oliver commanded. Clawitzer expelled water from the back of his claw and fired off towards his opponent, who was preparing to expel its own elemental powers. Clawitzer's large claw started to burst into a bright blue color as he struck Pikachu, just as the electric mouse released electricity from its two red cheeks. Both Pokémon, clearly injured by the attacks, repelled one another in opposite directions before collapsing onto the ground of the battlefield, both unable to battle.
Oliver returned Pikachu and looked up at Niko. "Well done, man. That was a great battle."
"Thanks, I think so too," Niko said as he pat Clawitzer's head. "Your Pokémon are going really well, Oliver. I can't wait to see how well you do in the Kalos League."
"I could say the same about you, runner-up," Oliver said with a smirk. They stared at each other for a few moments before firmly shaking one another's hand. "Good luck against Wulfric. If this battle is any indication, I think you'll be just fine. But keep an eye out for his Abomasnow. It's stronger than it looks."
"I've had experience battling those, but thanks for the heads up," Niko said.
"Charlotte, Warren, it was nice seeing you both again. Charlotte, good luck against Wulfric as well," he said before walking off of the battlefield, up the stairs, and out of sight. The sun was setting now and Niko, with his friends and Clawitzer by his side, felt more confident about the road ahead. He somehow felt like he was finding the answers he sought, even if they were immediately clear to him in the moment.
Sycamore's words, etched on a seat on the train station platform, rang true for Niko in that moment. He was, he was certain, becoming the person he wanted to become. He had lived that particular day to its fullest.
Author's Note: Just curious-what do y'all think of Oliver? He hasn't shown up much, at least not compared to Ian or Wally. I also haven't given him much backstory yet, and that's *kinda* on purpose, and kinda not. Either way, hope you enjoyed this battle.